Systems and methods to provide server side profile information

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods to provide server side profile information. An LDAP server is provisioned for each user of a plurality of users. Profile information is received. The profile information is stored in a database associated with the LDAP server. Via the LDAP server, a suggestion from the profile information is provided in response to a partial entry provided by the user to a first client associated with the user.

FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY

At least some embodiments of the disclosure relate to clientapplications in general and, more particularly but not limited to,provision of profile information from a server to a client application.

BACKGROUND

Many systems and applications have been developed to allow people tocommunicate with each other. Such systems and applications may providecommunication via emails, instant messages, text messages, web/onlinepostings, etc.

Some applications have been developed to organize address informationfor users. For example, an address application may store informationabout a plurality of persons. For each of the persons, the addressapplication may store the name of the person, the email address of theperson, the street address of the person, the IM address of the person,the web page address of the person, phone numbers of the person, etc.

SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods are provided to provide server side profileinformation. Some embodiments are summarized in this section.

In one embodiment, a computer implemented method includes: provisioning,via a computing device, an LDAP server for each user of a plurality ofusers; receiving profile information; storing the profile information ina database associated with the LDAP server; and providing, via the LDAPserver, a suggestion from the profile information in response to apartial entry provided by the user to a first client associated with theuser.

The disclosure includes methods and apparatuses which perform thesemethods, including data processing systems which perform these methods,and computer readable media containing instructions which when executedon data processing systems cause the systems to perform these methods.

Other features will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and fromthe detailed description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation inthe figures of the accompanying drawings in which like referencesindicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 shows a user terminal to provide assistance in address inputaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a profile of a person according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system to obtain data for a profile according toone embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface to provide assistance in addressinput according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates another user interface to provide assistance inaddress input according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows a system to provide server side profile informationaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows a screen of an enhanced client according to one embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows a screen related to packaging of a data file according toone embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows a screen providing configuration settings data according toone embodiment.

FIG. 10 shows a screen to allow a user to manually enter configurationsettings data according to one embodiment.

FIG. 11 shows a screen of a client according to one embodiment.

FIG. 12 shows a display of a suggestion served by an LDAP server and asuggestion provided by a client according to one embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows a display of a suggestion served by an LDAP serveraccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 14 shows a method to provide a suggestion to a client according toone embodiment.

FIG. 15 shows a data processing system, which can be used in variousembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and drawings are illustrative and are not tobe construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are described toprovide a thorough understanding. However, in certain instances, wellknown or conventional details are not described in order to avoidobscuring the description. References to one or an embodiment in thepresent disclosure are not necessarily references to the sameembodiment; and, such references mean at least one.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodimentsmutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features aredescribed which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others.Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirementsfor some embodiments but not other embodiments.

In one embodiment, a user terminal is configured to provide assistancefor the completion of inputting an address. While the user is typing toprovide an input to specify an address for a message, the user terminaluses the incomplete input that has been provided to an address field sofar by the user to identify one or more options or suggestions tocomplete the input, and thus allows the user to complete the input byselecting one.

In one embodiment, the user terminal is configured to search a profileset to search for a portion of the candidates that matches theincomplete input provided by the user. The profile set containsinformation about a plurality of persons, to whom the user may or maynot have previously sent a message.

FIG. 1 shows a user terminal to provide assistance in address inputaccording to one embodiment. The user terminal may be implemented as apersonal computer, a web enabled television set, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), or a mobile phone, using special purpose hardware(Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or Field-ProgrammableGate Array (FPGA)), software and a general purpose processor, or acombination of special purpose hardware and software. Thus, thedisclosure is not limited to a particular implementation.

In FIG. 1, the user terminal (101) is configured to store the messages(115) received at the user terminal (101) and the messages (117) sentfrom the user terminal (101). The user terminal (101) includes a messageviewer (123) which can be used to display a message selected from thereceived messages (115) or selected from the sent messages (117).

In FIG. 1, the user terminal (101) further includes a message composer(121) which is configured to present a user interface to facilitate thecomposition of an outgoing message.

In one embodiment, the user terminal (101) is configured to generate anaddress set (111) based on the addresses that have been specified in themessage composer (121) for one or more previously sent messages (117).When an address is used in the message composer (121) to specify arecipient of a message, the address is added to the address set (111),if the address is not already in the address set (111).

In one embodiment, the message composer (121) uses the address set (111)to suggest candidates for the completion of an input when the user istyping an address. For example, when the characters typed in an addressfield are the same as the first characters in a number of emailaddresses in the address set (111), the message composer (121) displaysthe email addresses as possible candidates for the completion of theinput.

In one embodiment, the user terminal (101) further includes a profilepresenter (125), which can provide suggestions for completion based onthe profile set (113) maintained by the profile builder (119).

In one embodiment, the profile builder (119) is configured to extractprofile data of various persons based on the received messages (115) andthe sent messages (117). The profile builder (119) can extractinformation about persons not only from the headers of the messageswhere the senders and the recipients of the messages are specified, butalso from the bodies of the messages and from other online sources, suchas online directories, social networking websites, web pages, resultpages found by search engines, etc.

Since the profile builder (119) obtains the profile data for variouspersons referenced in the messages (115 and 117), the profile set (113)is more comprehensive than the address set (111).

In one embodiment, the profile builder (119) is configured to scan thereceived messages (115) and the sent messages (117) for email addressesand names associated with the email addresses. The profile builder (119)generates a profile for each person identified to create the profile set(113). When new messages are received or sent, the profile set (113) isupdated based on the new messages.

In some embodiments, the profile builder (119) may further identifypersons based on scanning the received messages (115) and the sentmessages (117) for phone numbers, names, addresses, etc.

In some embodiments, as discussed in more detail below, some or all ofthe components (111-125) in the user terminal (101) may be hosted on aserver or platform remote to the user terminal (101) (e.g., accessiblevia a website and a web browser) in addition to or instead of beingimplemented in the user terminal (101). For example, in one embodiment,in addition to the user terminal (101), the profile set (113) may behosted on a remote server or platform, and accessible via a web site. Asanother example, in one embodiment, the received messages (115) and thesent messages (117) may be hosted on a web site; and the user can use aweb browser to view a selected one of the messages (115 and 117).

For example, the profile builder (119) may be configured to communicatewith the server to extract the profile set (113) from the messages (115and 117) hosted on the server. Alternatively, the profiler builder (119)may also be hosted on the server to build the profile set (113) on theserver.

FIG. 2 illustrates a profile of a person according to one embodiment. InFIG. 2, the profile (131) includes various fields, such as the name(141) of the person, a photo image (142) of the person, one or morephone numbers of the person (143), address information (144) (e.g.,email address, IM address, street address), business information (145)(e.g., employer, work address, job title), the date and time of the lastmessage received from the person (146), the date and time of the lastmessage sent to the person (147), the total number of messages receivedfrom the person (148), the total number of messages sent to the person(149), etc.

In one embodiment, the profile builder (119) obtains at least some ofthe information for the fields from the received messages (115) or thesent messages (117) to identify the person, and then uses otherinformation sources to obtain the data for the other fields in anautomated way to collect the profile information on behalf of the user.

For example, the profile builder (119) may use social networks, searchengines, photo services, etc. to obtain the photo (142), the businessinformation (145), etc.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system to obtain data for a profile according toone embodiment. In FIG. 3, under the control of the profile builder(119), the user terminal (101) may communicate with various servers inan automated way to extract data for the profile (131) over the network(151). The network (151) may include a local area network, a cellulartelecommunications network, a wireless wide area network, a wirelesslocal area network, a wireless personal area network, an intranet,and/or Internet.

In one embodiment, the user terminal (101) communicates with the messageserver (162) to receive and send the messages (115 and 117).

In one embodiment, after the profile builder (119) extracts from themessages (115 or 117) certain information (e.g., an email address, an IMuser name, a phone number, and/or a name) about a person, the profilebuilder (119) uses the extracted information to query various servers toobtain further information (e.g., photo (142), phone number (143),address information (144), and/or business information (145)) about theperson to create the profile (131).

For example, the user terminal (101) may query a web search engine(163), an online directory (164), a social network server (165), abusiness website (166), a personal website (167), a media sharingwebsite (168), a map and direction web site (169), an online retailer(152), a travel website (153), a location website (155), and/or otherservers. Information that can be used as search criteria include names,screen names, social network profile names, social network profile URLs,physical addresses, website URLs, email addresses, or telephone numbers.Information that is collected as a result of these queries may be usedin future searches to identify additional information that may be usedto create a person profile.

For example, the user terminal (101) may receive an email sent by aperson via the message server (162). The profile builder (119) of theuser terminal (101) is configured to perform a search using the websearch engine (163) with the email address of the person as the searchcriteria. The search engine (163) may return a search result thatincludes the phone number (143) of the person. The profile builder (119)extracts the phone number (143) from the search result and stores thephone number (143) as part of the profile (131) of the person. Thesearch engine (163) may also return the URL for or link to a personalwebsite (167) belonging to the person. The personal website (167) maycontain additional information about the person that may be used tocreate a person profile, such as additional contact information orbiographical information.

In another example, the email address belonging to the person mayinclude an extension (or domain name) for a company. The profile builder(119) of the user terminal (101) is configured to perform a search usingthe search engine (163) with the email extension (or domain name) as thesearch criteria. A result returned by the search may be a businesswebsite (166). The profile builder (119) of the user terminal (101) isfurther configured to search the business website (166) to obtaininformation relevant to the profile (131) of the person. For example, aweb page on the business website (166) may contain additionalinformation about the person that may be used to create a personprofile, such as business information (145), additional contactinformation or biographical information.

In another example, the profile builder (119) of the user terminal (101)is configured to perform a search using an online directory (164) (e.g.,a person search directory, a yellow page directory) with the name (141)of the person or other contact information as the search criteria. Theonline directory (164) may return search results that include additionalcontact information and other information that may be used for theprofile (131) of the person.

In another example, the user terminal (101) may receive an email sent bythe person via the message server (162). The email may contain a socialnetwork user name for the person. The profile builder (119) of the userterminal (101) is configured to extract this social network user namefrom the email and use it to access the social network server (165). Awebpage on the social network server (165) may contain additionalcontact information and other information that may be extracted and usedby the profile builder (119) to create the profile (131) of the person.The webpage on the social network server (165) may also containadditional contacts that may be associated with the person in theprofile (131). For example, persons on the friends list of the webpageon the social network server (165), or persons who have posted commentsor messages on the social network server (165) may be listed as contactsin a contact network for the person.

In another example, a search performed using the search engine (163) mayreturn a URL or link for a media sharing website (168) (e.g., forsharing photos or videos). The media sharing website (168) may storeprofile information about the person. Thus, the profile builder (119) ofthe user terminal (101) can extract additional contact information orbiographical information from the media sharing website (168) for thecreation of the profile (131) of the person. For example, a profilebelonging to the person on a video sharing website may include aninstant message screen name (user name) for the person. This screen namemay be extracted and displayed as part of the profile (131) of theperson.

In one embodiment, information extracted from communications between theperson and other users may also be used to update profile information ona social network server (165) or other websites. For example, theprofile builder (119) of the user terminal (101) may detect that theperson has primarily used email address “david@foo.com” in recentcommunications, whereas the profile of the person on the social networkserver (165) shows his email address as “david@bar.com.” The profilebuilder (119) of the user terminal (101) can share the new email addressof the person with the social network server (165) to allow the socialnetwork server (165) to automatically update the correspondinginformation about the person, or to suggest the person to make an updatebased on this changed behavior detected by the profile builder (119) ofthe user terminal (101).

In one embodiment, the profile builder (119) of the user terminal (101)can also extract information about the person from the travel website(153) and the online retailer (152) for the creation of the profile(131) of the person. For example, after an email containing informationabout a flight itinerary is received in the user terminal (101), theprofile builder (119) of the user terminal (101) may extract a flightnumber or other information about a flight from the email. The profilebuilder (119) of user terminal (101) then queries the travel website(153) using the flight number or other flight information as searchcriteria. Information about the flight, such as the destination city orthe departure city, expected departure time, expected arrival time,expected delays, weather in the destination city, weather in thedeparture city, or any changes to the flight may be used as part of theprofile (131) of the person.

In another example, an email containing information about an item orservice that the second user is interested in purchasing may be receivedin the user terminal (101). The profile builder (119) of user terminal(101) is configured to query one or more search engines, websites, oron-line retailers (152) to determine which retailer or website has thebest price or currently has the item in stock or the service available.This information is extracted by the profile builder (119) and displayedby the profile presenter (125) as part of the profile (131) of theperson.

In one embodiment, the profile builder (119) of the user terminal (101)can also extract information from a map and direction website (169) andlocation servers (155) as part of the profile (131) of the person. Forexample, the person may own a GPS unit, cell phone, or other device thatis capable of transmitting the person's current physical location to thelocation server (155), which allows other users to access the person'scurrent location information. If the user of the user terminal (101) haspermission to view the location information of the person, the profilebuilder (119) of the user terminal (101) may access the location server(155) over the network (151) to receive location information about theperson. This location information can be displayed as part of a personprofile.

The profile builder (119) of the user terminal (101) may also access themap and direction website (169) to create a map of the current locationof the person, or to generate directions to the current location of theperson. The map or directions may be displayed by the profile presenter(125) as part of the profile (131) of the person. The map and directionwebsite (169) may also be used to generate a map or directions to one ormore known street addresses of the person, such as a work address orhome address. The map or directions can be displayed by the profilepresenter (125) as part of the profile (131) of the person.

FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface to provide assistance in addressinput according to one embodiment. In FIG. 4, the user interface (201)is configured for composing an outgoing message. The user interface(201) includes entries to specify the addresses of the recipients of themessage. For example, the entry box (203) is configured to receive theemail address of an outgoing email, which may be sent from the userterminal (101) via the message server (162).

In one embodiment, when the entry box (203) detects a change in thecontent received in the entry box (203) (e.g., a keystroke is receivedin the entry box (203), as the user types a letter on a keyboard toprovide an input), the profile presenter (125) determines a set ofsuggestions for the completion of the input in the entry box (203). Theprofile presenter (125) uses the incomplete input in the entry box (203)as a search criterion to find from the profile set (113) a set ofsuggestions for the complete address input. The suggestions arepresented in the window (205) as a selectable list.

In one embodiment, when the message composer (121) has an existing,native mechanism for displaying suggestions (e.g., making suggestionsbased on address set (111)), the profile presenter (125) can beconfigured as an add-on module to display these suggestions as well andto hide the native mechanism of the message composer (121) fordisplaying suggestions.

In FIG. 4, the item (209) on the top of the list is highlighted; and theuser may select the highlighted item (209) with a keystroke (e.g.,pressing Tab key, Enter key, Home, End, PgUp, PgDown, etc.). The usermay use the arrow keys to move the highlight up or down the list tohighlight a different item, or provide additional input in the entry box(203) to cause the profile presenter (125) to update the suggestions inthe window (205). The user may also use the cursor (207) to select anitem using a cursor control, such as a mouse, a track ball, a touch pad,a touch screen, etc.

In one embodiment, when the message composer (121) has an existing,native mechanism that uses these keys for the display of suggestions,the profile presenter (125) configured as an add-on module can hidethese keystrokes from the native mechanism. For example, the

In one embodiment, after an item is selected from the list presented inthe suggestion window (205), the address represented by the item isinserted by the profile presenter (125) into the entry box (203) toreplace the corresponding portion that is used to suggest the selecteditem; and the suggestion window (205) is closed automatically.

In some embodiments, the message composer (121) may be configured toperform post-processing, such as name checking, on the inserted text inthe entry box (203) a few moments after the text has been inserted. Theinsertion by the profile presenter (125) is performed in a way thatallows such post-processing by the message composer (121) to continuefunctioning. For example, if the message composer (121) loses focus oractivation, it starts post-processing the entries in the textbox. Theprofile presenter (125) is configure temporarily prevent this fromhappening while the suggestion window (205) is visible and causes thisto happen when the suggestion window (205) is closed. To hide thesuggestion window (205), the suggestion window (205) is configured as atopmost window that is initially not activated. The Outlook textboxwindow is subclassed via a code-injection mechanism to temporarilypreventing it from getting “kill focus” messages (e.g., throughintercepting such messages, and then throwing them away). After thesuggestion window (205) becomes invisible, the profile presenter (125)sets the focus back to the textbox window and causes the post-processingto be performed.

For example, in FIG. 4, the incomplete input “Graf” is received in theentry box (203). The cursor “|” in the entry box (203) indicates theinsertion point for subsequent keystrokes received in the user terminal(101). While the entry box (203) is expecting additional input from theuser, the profile presenter (125) uses the incomplete input “Graf” toidentify a set of suggestions, such as mgraf@gmail.com for Mary Graf,ericg@yahoo.com for Eric Grafstrom, graffiti@hotmail.com for SteveCurtis, graffiti@pacbell.net for SFPD, etc., based on the profile set(113) established by the profile builder (119).

In one embodiment, the suggestions are identified by matching theincomplete input with names, addresses and/or other profile data of thepersons in the profile set (113). The incomplete input may match thebeginning of a last name, the beginning of a first name, the beginningof the name of an organization, the beginning of a domain name of anemail address, the beginning of the top level domain name of an emailaddress, the beginning of the email prefix, the beginning of a word inthe job title (or the beginning of the job title), the beginning of thecity of the person, etc. In some embodiments, when an email prefixcontains one or more separators, such as “_” or “.” or “-”, the emailprefix is broken down into segments or chunks; and the incomplete inputmay be match the beginning of any of the segments or chunks. When thereis a match, the person can be selected as a candidate for thesuggestions. Thus, the searching for a match is not limited to matchingthe beginning of an address that the user has previously typed for aprevious outgoing message.

In FIG. 4, the top item, mgraf@gmail.com for Mary Graf, is highlightedand can be selected by pressing the Tab key or the Enter key.Alternatively, the user may select the second item, ericg@yahoo.com forEric Grafstrom, by pressing a mouse button while the cursor (207) isover the second item. The profile presenter (125) is configured to usethe selected address to replace the incomplete input “Graf” received inthe entry box (203).

In FIG. 4, if the user further types a letter “f”, the profile presenter(125) will use the incomplete input “Graff” to eliminate somesuggestions (e.g., mgraf@gmail.com for Mary Graf, ericg@yahoo.com forEric Grafstrom) and update the list in the suggestion window (205).

Thus, the profile presenter (125) uses the profile set (113) to identifysuggestions based on incomplete input provided in the entry box (203)and to allow the user to select a suggestion to complete the input.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example in which the suggestion window (205) ispresented to provide suggestions for the completion of an address inputin the “To” field of the user interface (201) for composing an outgoingmessage. Similar suggestions can be provided when the user is typing inother fields that are configured to receive address inputs, such as the“CC” field, or “BCC” field, of a user interface for composing anoutgoing email message. Further, the suggestions can be provided whenthe user is typing in other types of user interfaces that are configuredto receive address inputs, such as a user interface to edit a contactentry, a profile page, etc. Thus, the invention is not limited to theuser interface for composing an email message.

FIG. 5 illustrates another user interface to provide assistance inaddress input according to one embodiment.

In FIG. 5, the suggestions are presented as two parts. The part abovethe separator (211) is identified from the address set (111) and thepart below the separator (211) is identified from the profile set (113).

In one embodiment, the address set (111) is generated by collecting theaddresses that have been previously specified in the address fields ofthe message composer (121) of the user terminal (101). In oneembodiment, the suggestion above the separator (211) is identified bymatching the incomplete input “Graf” with the starting letters of theaddresses in the address set (111). The addresses in the address set(111) that have the leading characters “graf” are selected to generatethe suggestions above the separator (211).

In one embodiment, the message composer (121) has an existing, nativemechanism for displaying suggestions (e.g., making suggestions based onaddress set (111)). The profile presenter (125) is configured to obtainthe suggestions from the native mechanism (e.g., via scraping,inspecting, querying, etc.) and displays the suggestions above theseparator (121).

In one embodiment, the suggestions presented above the separator (211)are identified by the message composer (121). The profile presenter(125) obtains the suggestions from the message composer (121), presentsthe suggestions in the suggestion window (205), hide the suggestions themessage composer (121) would have shown (and thus prevents the messagecomposer (121) from presenting the suggestions in a separate window).

In another embodiment, the profile presenter (125) shows the suggestionsbased on the profile set (113) in one suggestion window; the messagecomposer (121) shows the suggestions in a different suggestion window;and the profile presenter (125) aligns its suggestion window with thesuggestion window of the message composer (121) so that the twosuggestion windows appear like two panels of a large window.Alternatively, the profile presenter (125) presents its suggestionwindow over the suggestion window of the message composer (121) (tocover up and thus effectively disable the suggestion window of themessage composer (121)). In one embodiment, the profile presenter (125)causes the suggestion window of the message composer (121) to beinvisible on subsequent invocations to hide the suggestion window of themessage composer (121).

In another embodiment, the profile presenter (125) uses the address set(111) to identify the suggestions presented above the separator (211) inthe suggestion window (205), using the same approach the suggestionwindow of the message composer (121) would use.

In one embodiment, the profile presenter (125) includes an auto suggestmanager. The auto suggest manager can turn on or turn off the feature ofauto suggestions generated based on the profile set (113) in accordancewith the preferences of the user. The auto suggest manager providesencapsulation, providing an easy interface for external applications touse the auto suggest feature without understanding its implementation.It provides a mechanisms to add the auto suggest feature to a new window(message, contact, etc.), to “clean up” or remove the auto suggestfeature from a window or all windows, to allow logging of auto suggeststate and problems, and to determine any special preferences the usermay have set in the native client (e.g., Outlook).

In one embodiment, the profile presenter (125) includes a suggestionwindow (205) that presents a dialog box or a list box to show thesuggested results. The profile presenter (125) includes a viewcontroller to show or hide the suggestion window (205). The viewcontroller also positions the suggestion window (205) in the correctlocation (which varies as the user types in text), participates in“hiding” the suggestion window (205) from the native application (e.g.,Outlook) so that the native application is not aware of the existence ofthe suggestion window (205), and notify other modules of navigationcommands (PgUp, PgDown, etc.) and user selections. When a selection orkeyboard command (e.g., arrow keys, tab return) related to thesuggestions occurs, the suggestion window (205) (or a keyboard hook orthe inspector controller, discussed below) provides messages to the viewcontroller for processing.

In one embodiment, the profile presenter (125) further includes a resultcontroller, which decides what results to show and when. After theprofile presenter (125) detects that the user is typing in an addressfield (e.g., To, CC, or BCC fields of a window to compose an email), theresult controller uses the incomplete input as a search criterion tosearch for the suggestions based on the profile set (113) and/or basedon the address set (111). The view controller causes the display of thesuggestion window (205) to show the search results. If the user selectsa suggestion from the window (205), the address corresponding to theuser selection is put into the address field.

In one embodiment, the profile presenter (125) is implemented as anadd-on module for an existing communications client, such as MicrosoftOutlook, which can make suggestions by selecting from the address set(111) the email addresses that start with the incomplete input typed bythe user in the address field. The suggestion window (205) of theprofile presenter (125) subclasses the suggestion window of the existingcommunications client; and the profile presenter (125) hides thesuggestion window of the existing communications client and creates akeyboard hook as wells as a subclass mechanism using code-injection tointercept keyboard messages and other messages sent to the hiddensuggestion window of the existing communications client to prevent itfrom processing these keys (e.g. PgUp, PgDown, Tab, Return), and also tocause it to process fake keystrokes or other messages (e.g. to implement“delete” functionality”). In one embodiment, the keyboard hook is aglobal WH_KEYBOARD_LL hook; in another embodiment, the keyboard hook isa WH_KEYBOARD hook. In one embodiment, the profile presenter (125)creates only one such keyboard hook per thread (especially for theWH_KEYBOARD hook).

In one embodiment, the result controller is configured to handle arapidly typing user, by stopping a previous search and then starting anew search. For example, if a search for suggestions is started based onthe initial input “er” and before the suggestions are displayed the userfurther typed “ic” to provide the input “eric”, the result controllerstops the search for suggestions based on “er” and starts a new searchfor suggestions based on “eric”.

In one embodiment, an inspector controller is used to hook thefunctionalities of the profile presenter (125) with the existingcommunications client, which may be the message composer (121) in oneembodiment. When a window for the message composer (121) is constructedand shown, the inspector controller determines whether the user istyping in a field (e.g., entry box (203)) that is configured to receivean address. If the user is typing in an address field, the inspectorcontroller instantiates a keyboard hook to obtain what the user types inthe address field to allow the profile presenter (125) to generate thesuggestions based on the profile set (113).

In one embodiment, the inspector controller determines if the windowshould have auto suggest functionality. Read-only windows or unsupportedtype of windows should not have the auto suggest functionality. Theinspector controller then searches for suitable textboxes (using a“Control Calculation mechanism”) that should have auto suggestfunctionality attached to them. Since the native client (e.g., Outlook)has many configurations (“use Word Editor”, use “RTF Editor”, etc.),different mechanisms are used and a fallback mechanism in case theinitial search for a suitable window fails, and in some cases,additional code injection is required because the native client (e.g.,Outlook) uses a different process for different windows. The inspectorcontroller uses a “SetProp” mechanism to “remember” which windows havealready been subclassed so that auto suggest functionality is correctlyadded to the newest window. Additionally, the inspector controller keepstrack of which textbox (To, Cc, Bcc, etc.) the user is currently using.The inspector controller also is responsible for putting the user'sselection (from the dialog) into the selected textbox control. Theinspector controller also watches for various windows message in thevarious subclassed windows (e.g. Activation, Focus, Keyboard), “hiding”(or “eating”) some of these message from the native client (e.g.,Outlook) so as not to break other existing functionality of the nativeclient (e.g., Outlook), and using others to notify the view controllerthat it should hide or show or change the suggestion window (205). Inaddition to the subclass of the “TextBox” and “Outlook AutoSuggest”window, the main composer window is subclassed as well, and may subclassothers in the future. Note that this subclassing mechanism isimplemented using code injection and could in the future also beimplemented using other mechanisms. Code injection “injects” our codeinto another program (e.g. Outlook or Word) while it is running.

In one embodiment, the inspector controller subclasses the textbox (andalso the parent window) into which the user is typing to receive thekeys typed by the user, generate requests for new suggestions inresponse to keys typed by the user, scroll through the suggestions(e.g., when the user presses arrow keys), indicate a selection by theuser (e.g., when the user presses Tab or Enter key) (some embodimentsuse subclass, some embodiments keyboard hook), the profile presenter(125) hide these keystrokes from the native client (e.g., Outlookwindow) (by “eating” or consuming the messages), and hide the suggestionwindow (205) when the keyboard focus is moved out of the textbox or userhas activated another application or user has finished selection. Theinspector controller instantiates the view controller to process theuser input and subclasses the suggestion window of the message composer(121) to create the suggestion window (205). The inspector controller(or the keyboard hook) contacts the view controller to process the userinputs when various keys are received in the textbox in which the useris typing.

In one embodiment, a window driver is used to work with the messagecomposer (121) to obtain current caret position (the position of thetext insertion point indicator). In response to the requests from theinspector controller and the suggestion window (205), the window drivermay selectively block messages from being passed on to other windows.When a selection is made, the window driver is configured to replace theincomplete input in the address field with the address corresponding tothe selection.

In one embodiment, the profile presenter (125) is implemented as anadd-on module to a native client, such as Outlook. The Outlook textboxwindows are in some cases “rich edit controls” which allow othercontrols to be embedded in them. The profile presenter (125) walk boththe text and these embedded COM controls using COM (also known as OLE orActiveX programming) to determine where the user is currently enteringtext (ignoring any other text or embedded controls before or after thecurrent email address) so that the profile presenter (125) can correctlydetermine where the current user's entry begins and ends, what text touse to create suggestions for, and also which part of the text (orembedded controls) to replace.

In one embodiment, the profile presenter (125) uses a person-centricapproach to identify the suggestions. The partial input (e.g., “Graf”received in the entry box (203)) is used to match the names of thepersons to identify the persons in the profile set (113) (e.g., thefirst name, the last name, the nickname, etc.). The profile presenter(125) sorts the matched persons based on a relationship score determinedfrom the statistical data derived at least in part from the receivedmessages (115) and the sent messages (117).

In one embodiment, after receiving one or more letters that are typed inby an end user in an entry box configured to receive an address for anoutgoing message, the profile presenter (125) determines whether the oneor more letters match part of a name in the profile set (113). If thereis a match (or more than one match), the profile presenter (125)retrieves the addresses associated with the matched name(s), sorts theaddresses, and presents the addresses for selection in suggestion window(205).

In one embodiment, if there is no name that matches the one or moreletters, the profile presenter (125) determines whether the one or moreletters match part of an address in the profile set (113). If there is amatch (or more than one match), the profile presenter (125) retrievesthe matched address(es), sorts the addresses, and presents the addressesfor selection in suggestion window (205).

Thus, the user can input the names of the recipient to cause the profilepresenter (125) to identify the persons with names matching the input toselect the person and thus select the address of the person. The namesof the recipient do not have to be part of the addresses to be matchedand suggested.

In one embodiment, when a person has multiple addresses, the suggestionwindow (205) shows multiple suggestions for the addresses presented withthe name of the person.

In another embodiment, when a person has multiple addresses, thesuggestion window (205) shows one entry to suggest the person. If theperson is selected, the suggestion window (205) is then updated to showa list of addresses of the person. If the user selects one or moreaddresses, the profile presenter (125) replaces the name of the personwith the selected address(es) of the person; if the user does not selectany of the multiple addresses, the profile presenter (125) replaces thename of the person with all of the multiple addresses. In oneembodiment, if the user does not select any of the multiple addresses ofthe person, the profile presenter (125) replaces the name of the personwith the top ranked address of the person in the To field and insertsthe other addresses of the person in the CC or BCC field (or uses thetop ranked address without using the other addresses of the person).

In one embodiment, the profile presenter (125) attempts to first matchnames of the persons in the profile set (113) and, if there is no matchin names, then match addresses of the persons in the profile set (113).

In another embodiments, the profile presenter (125) may perform a searchto match the beginning of a number of fields in the profile set (113),such as, different fields of names of the persons in the profile set(113), different segments of email addresses of the persons in theprofile set (113), the names of cities (or states or countries) of thepersons in the profile set (113), different words in the streetaddresses of the persons in the profile set (113), different words ofjob titles of the persons in the profile set (113), screen names of thepersons in the profile set (113), etc. Examples of different fields ofnames include first name, last name, middle name, nick name, etc.Examples of different segments of email addresses include segments orchunks of an email prefix separated by a separator, such as “-”, “.”, or“_”, different levels of domain names of an email address, etc. In someembodiments, the names of the persons are as part of the emailaddresses. In some embodiments, the names are from fields separated fromthe email addresses.

When the profile presenter (125) searches different types of fields, amatch in different types of fields may be weighted differently. Forexample, a match in a name field may be given a first weight (e.g., 10),a match in an email prefix segment may be given a second weight (e.g.,8), a match in the top level domain name may be given a third weight(e.g., 1), and a match in other domain names (e.g., second level domainname, or lower level domain names) may be given a fourth weight (e.g.,2), etc. When a person or an address has multiple matches in differentfields, the weights for the multiple matches may be added to compute theweight for the person or address. Alternatively, the highest weight forthe multiple matches can be selected as the weight for the person oraddress. The weights for the matched persons or addresses can be used tosort the persons or addresses for selection of up to a predeterminednumber of suggestions for presentation to the user. For example, theweights can be applied to the relevancy scores of the matched persons oraddresses to determine relevancy scores for suggesting the persons oraddresses; and the profile presenter (125) selects up to a predeterminednumber of matched persons or addresses that have the highest relevancyscores for suggesting the persons or addresses.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, the suggestions presented based on the profile set(113) are shown as a list of entries, where a typical entry includes thename and the address of the person. However, in other embodiments, theentries may further include other information, such as a photo image ofthe person, a job title of the person, a business association of theperson, etc. In some embodiments, other details of the profile of theperson are shown in a separate window when the cursor is positioned andremains positioned on the entry for the person (e.g., hovering over theentry).

In one embodiment, the profile presenter (125) ranks the persons for thesuggestions to complete the address input, based on the relevancy indexbetween the suggested persons and the user of the user terminal (101).When dealing with long lists of contacts, such a relevancy index helpsusers find the most relevant contacts first.

In one embodiment, the profile builder (119) scans the messages (115 and117) to capture the addresses of the senders and recipients of themessages (115 and 117). Each of the captured addresses is stored in anindex file. When one of those addresses is seen in a header thatdescribes the recipients and senders, the score for the address isincreased by a predetermined amount (e.g., 1). In some embodiments, theprofile builder (119) further scans the body of the messages (115 and117) to identify additional addresses.

In some embodiments, different weights/amounts are given to the scorewhen the addresses are used in different fields (e.g., From, Reply-To,To, CC, and BCC fields of emails). For example, an amount of 3 may begiven to the score when an address is found in a field that identifiesthe sender of the message (e.g., From or Reply-To fields of emailsreceived by the user of the user terminal (101)); and an amount of 1 maybe given to the score when the address is found in a field thatidentifies the recipient of the message (e.g., To, CC, and BCC fields ofemails sent from the user of the user terminal (101)).

In some embodiments, the same amount is given to the score regardless ofthe type of fields in which the address is used (e.g., From, Reply-To,To, CC, and BCC fields of emails).

In some embodiments, the length of the elapsed time period since receiptof the message is further used to determine the amount given to thescore. The occurrence of an address in a recent message can be givenmore weight than the occurrence of the address in a messagereceived/sent earlier than the recent message.

Thus, after the messages (115 and 117) are processed, each of theaddresses has a relevancy score. The higher the score, the more relevantthe address is to the user of the user terminal (101).

In some embodiments, the relevancy score is computed from the data inthe profile (131), such as the total number of messages received fromthe person (148), the total number of messages sent to the person (149),etc. In some embodiments, the number of messages are counted based onthe types of fields in which the addresses appear and the time periodsin which the messages are sent or received.

In one embodiment, the profile builder (119) further groups theaddresses by the names of the corresponding persons. Each person havinga name in the profile set (113) may have one or more addresses. In oneembodiment, the scores for the addresses of the person are summed togenerate a score for the person. Thus, the higher the score, the morerelevant the person is to the user of the user terminal (101).

In one embodiment, when the suggestions are presented as a list ofaddresses, the scores for the addresses are used to sort the addresses.When the suggestions are presented as a list of persons, the scores forthe persons are used to sort the list of names of the persons.

In another embodiment, the suggestions are presented as a list ofaddresses grouped according to the persons. The addresses for eachperson are grouped together and sorted within the group based on thescores of the emails. The groups are sorted according to the scores ofthe persons.

In one embodiment, the profile presenter (125) selects up to apredetermined number (e.g., 10) of candidates, after sorting thecandidates for the suggestions based on the relevancy scores. Theselected candidates are presented in the suggestion window (205) to helpthe user. Less relevant candidates are not presented in the suggestionwindow (205).

While some of the embodiments are discussed here in the context ofcomposing an email message, the techniques disclosed here can also beapplied to the specifying of address information for instant messaging,text messaging, dialing a phone number, etc. Instead of matching theincomplete input to the exact address, the profile presenter (125) canmatch the incomplete input with identifiers of the persons in theprofile set (113) to identify the persons as the basis for suggestions.Examples of identifiers include nickname, first name, last name, companyname, domain name, user name, screen name, phone number, etc. In oneembodiment, the suggestions are searched and presented in the form ofsuggested persons and thus, the suggestions are person-centric.

In some embodiments, the user terminal (101) may include differentcommunication components that require address information for differenttypes of communications, such as email, instant messages, text messages,phone calls, etc. The profile presenter (125) may use the profile set(113) to generate the suggested candidates for completing an addressinput for the different types of communications.

In some embodiments, the relevancy score is computed for the personwithout considering the type of communications. In other embodiments,the addresses having the same type as the address to be suggested aregiven more weight than other types of addresses. For example, whenranking the persons for suggesting addresses for instant messaging, theaddresses for instant messaging may be given more weight than addressesfor other types of communications, such as email, phone calls, etc.Thus, for different types of communications, the profile presenter (125)may suggest different lists of persons based on the same profile set(113) and the same incomplete input.

In one embodiment, the profile builder (119) scans a set of messages(115 and 117) to identify addresses of senders of the messages andaddresses of recipients of the messages in an automatic way, forexample, when the profile builder (119) is installed and/or when themessages (115 and 117) are received or sent.

The profile builder (119) identifies the names of persons at theaddresses to create profiles (131) for the persons, based on scanningthe messages (115 and 117) and/or querying other data sources in anautomated way, such as the web search engine (163), online directory(164), social network server (165), and other websites.

In one embodiment, the profile builder (119) computes a relevancy scorefor each of the addresses based on a number of messages in which theaddresses are used and types of fields in which the addresses are usedin the messages. For example, instances where an address is used tospecify a recipient of a message sent from the user of the user terminal(101) may be given more weight than instances where the address is usedto specify a sender of a message received by the user of the userterminal (101).

In one embodiment, the profile builder (119) also computes a relevancyscore for each of the persons based on the relevancy score of theaddresses of each person.

In one embodiment, in response to an incomplete input in an addressfield, the profile presenter (125) identifies a set of persons bymatching the incomplete input with names of the persons and/or theaddresses of the persons. The profile presenter (125) sorts theaddresses of the identified persons according to the relevancy scores ofthe persons and/or the relevancy scores of the addresses, and selectsand presents up to a predetermined number of suggestions from the sortedaddresses. In response to a user selection of one of the suggestions,the profile presenter (125) replaces the incomplete input with the userselected address.

FIG. 6 illustrates a system (600) having an enhanced client 1 (630), anenhanced client 2 (640), clients (650 a-n), web application (660), webapplication (670), and a platform (610). The components in FIG. 6communicate over a network (680). In one embodiment, the network (680)is the network (151).

The enhanced client 1 (630) is a client application that runs on theuser terminal (101) of a particular user, and provides the functionalityof the components (111-125). The enhanced client 1 (630) may include anysoftware utility or client application that provides for management ofmessages, address books, contact information, and calendars including,for example, those provided by Microsoft (e.g., Outlook), RIM (e.g.,Blackberry), and other organizations. In one embodiment, the enhancedclient 1 (630) may include other types of software utilities and clientapplications.

In one embodiment, the enhanced client 2 (640) may include the sametypes of software utilities and client applications as the enhancedclient 1 (630).

The enhanced client 1 (630) includes a database (634), an indexingengine (632), and a passive address book (PAB) 1 (636). The database(634) may include contact information in a native data format of theclient application, including, for example, received messages (115),sent messages (117), and contact information manually entered by a userof the user terminal (101). In one embodiment, the database (634) mayinclude information in the address set (111).

The indexing engine (632) extracts, processes, and indexes informationfrom the database (634), and stores the information in the PAB 1 (636).In one embodiment, the indexing engine (632) is, or may include, theprofile builder (119). In one embodiment, the profile information in thePAB 1 (636) may include information in the profile set (113). In thisregard, the PAB 1 (636) contains profile information about personsobtained from the headers of sent messages and received messages thatare manually entered as well as information automatically obtained fromthe bodies of messages and various online sources. In one embodiment,the functionality of the indexing engine (632) and the PAB 1 (636) maybe provided by an add-on utility to a base client application.

In one embodiment, the enhanced client 1 (630), as well as the platform(610) via the indexing engines (618 a) and (618 c), may additionallyextract profile information over the network (680) from a separate webapplication (670) (e.g., Google account of the user) of a remote serverby a custom communications protocol between the enhanced client 1 (630)and the web application (670). In one embodiment, the enhanced client 1(630)), as well as the platform (610) via the indexing engines (618 a)and (618 c), may extract profile information over the network (680) froma separate web application (660) (e.g., Yahoo account of the user) of aremote server via an API (662) with which to extract the profileinformation from the web application (600). The profile information isstored in the PAB 1 (636).

The enhanced client 1 (630) communicates with the platform (610) overthe network (680). In one embodiment, the platform (610) is a server orserver farm. The platform (610) includes an XDF sync server (612), anindexing engine (618 a), a PAB 1 (616 a), and an LDAP server 1 (614 a).The indexing engine (618 a), the PAB 1 (616 a), and the LDAP server 1(614 a) are associated with the user of the enhanced client 1 (630) andthe enhanced client 2 (640). In one embodiment, the indexing engine (618a), the PAB 1 (616 a), and the LDAP server 1 (614 a) are provided forthe user or group of users. An indexing engine (618 c), a PAB N (616 c),and an LDAP server N (614 c) of the platform (610) are provided for adifferent Nth user or group of users.

The information in the PAB 1 (636) of the enhanced client 1 (630) may beuploaded to the platform (610) and synchronized with the information inthe PAB 1 (616 a) in the platform (610). During a synchronizationprocess, the profile information in the PAB 1 (636) may be used tocreate and package a data file. In one embodiment, the data file isformatted in JSON. The data file may contain a plurality of entries witheach entry having profile information for various individuals including,for example, name, email address, phone number, title, position,employer, social network account identification, as well as any otherdesirable profile information. After the data file is packaged, theenhanced client 1 (630) provides the data file to the XDF sync server(612). The XDF sync server (612) analyzes the profile information in thePAB 1 (616 a). If the PAB 1 (616 a) has no profile information, the XDFsync server (612) copies the information from the data file into the PAB1 (616 a). If the PAB 1 (616 a) already has profile information, the XDFsync server (612) synchronizes the information from the data file withthe profile information in the PAB 1 (616 a) to generate synchronizedprofile information and to accordingly update the PAB 1 (616 a). In oneembodiment, the synchronization process occurs automatically andregularly. In one embodiment, the user may initiate the synchronizationprocess.

In one embodiment, the information in the PAB 1 (616 a) of the platform(610) may be downloaded (i.e., served) to the enhanced client 1 (630)and synchronized with the information in the PAB 1 (636) in the enhancedclient 1 (630). During a synchronization process, the information in thePAB 1 (636) may be used to create and package a data file. In oneembodiment, the data file is formatted in JSON. The data file maycontain a plurality of entries with each entry having profileinformation for various individuals including, for example, name, emailaddress, phone number, title, position, employer, social network accountidentification, as well as any other desirable profile information.After the data file is packaged, the enhanced client 1 (630) providesthe data file to the XDF sync server (612). The XDF sync server (612)analyzes the profile information in the PAB 1 (616 a) and compares itwith the data file. The platform (610) generates a new data filereflecting the results of the comparison between the profile informationin the PAB 1 (616 a) and the data file created from the PAB 1 (636). Thenew data file is provided to the enhanced client 1 (630) and the storedin the PAB 1 (636).

The enhanced client 2 (640) is another exemplary client application thatruns on the user terminal (101) of a different device for the user, andalso provides the functionality of the components (111-125). In oneembodiment, the enhanced client 1 (630) and the enhanced client 2 (640)are different client applications that run on different user terminals(101). The enhanced client 2 (640) includes a database (644), anindexing engine (642), and a PAB 1 (646). With respect to thesynchronization process and communication with the LDAP server 1 (614a), the operation of the enhanced client 2 (640) is similar to theoperation of the enhanced client 1 (630), as described herein. Thus, thedescription of the enhanced client 1 (630) and its operation applies, asis appropriate, to the enhanced client 2 (640) and its operation, andvice versa.

In one embodiment, updates to the PAB 1 (636) of the enhanced client 1(630) may be propagated to the enhanced client 2 (640), and vice versa.For example, an update to the PAB 1 (636) of the enhanced client 1 (630)may be uploaded to the platform (610) during a synchronization process.During a synchronization process between the platform (610) and theenhanced client 2 (640), the update may be downloaded to the enhancedclient 2 (640).

The clients (650 a-n) are client applications that runs on the userterminal (101) of the user. In one embodiment, the clients (650 a-n) areall configured to have LDAP support. The clients (650 a-n) may includeany software utility or client application that provides for managementof messages, address books, contact information, and calendarsincluding, for example, those provided by Microsoft (e.g., Outlook),Apple (e.g., mail and address book applications for iPhone; mail.app andaddress book for Mac; OS X, etc.), RIM (e.g., Blackberry), and otherorganizations. In one embodiment, the clients (650 a-n) may includeother types of software utilities and client applications. A localdatabase (not shown) for each of the clients (650 a-n) may includeinformation in a native data format of the client application,including, for example, received messages (115), sent messages (117),and contact information manually entered by a user of the user terminal(101). In one embodiment, unlike the enhanced client 1 (630) and theenhanced client 2 (640), the clients (650 a-n) of the user do notinclude a PAB 1.

In one embodiment, an LDAP server of the platform (610) may separatelystore data for multiple users supported by the platform (610). Forexample, to communicate with the clients (650 a-n) of the user, theplatform (610) includes the LDAP server 1 (614 a) for the user or agroup of users. The platform (610) includes the LDAP server N (614 c)for the Nth user or group of users supported by the platform (610). Inone embodiment, separate LDAP servers may be partitioned in the platform(610) by using OpenLDAP Software and/or other LDAP or directory-servicesoftware. In one embodiment, the LDAP server 1 (614 a) is provisioned tothe user after the enhanced client 1 (630) has synchronized the profileinformation in the PAB 1 (636) with the PAB 1 (616 a) of the platform(610). In one embodiment, the user may be provided access to more thanone LDAP server and the profile information in the corresponding PABs.In one embodiment, the platform (610) may include a dedicated LDAPserver for every user supported by the platform (610).

As discussed in more detail below, the LDAP server 1 (614 a) may beaccessed by the user through LDAP configuration settings unique to theuser. In one embodiment, login information of each user when provided tothe platform (610) permits the user to access only the LDAP server 1(614 a), and associated profile information in the PAB 1 (616 a), sothat the profile information in the PAB 1 (616 a) serves as a privatedata repository for the user. After the LDAP configuration settings forthe user are provided to the platform, the platform (610) may provide(i.e., serve) profile information from the PAB 1 (616 a) via the LDAPserver 1 (614 a) during use by the user of any of the clients (650 a-n).For example, when the user provides a partial entry of contactinformation in a field of the client (650), the LDAP server 1 (614 a)may provide profile information to the client (650) as a suggestion forthe partial entry.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary screen (700) of the enhanced client 1(630) of the user. The user interface (700) includes a panel (702) thatreflects the ability of the enhanced client 1 (630) to perform thefunctionality of the components (111-125). The panel (702) includes asearch box (704) to perform searches against the PAB 1 (636). The panel(702) includes a profile section (706) that provides information about acontact of interest to the user. The panel (702) includes an actionssection (708) to allow the user to perform various actions, such asrequest a phone number of the contact, schedule time with the contact,and email the contact. The panel (702) includes a utilities section(710) to allow the user to, for example, see the network of the contact,and view conversations, files exchanged, and appointments of the user.

FIG. 8 illustrates a screen 800 of the enhanced client 1 (630) having apop-up window (802) that indicates the packaging of a data file in asynchronization process between the enhanced client 1 (630) and theplatform (610). In one embodiment, the synchronization process isautomatically initiated. In one embodiment, the synchronization processmay be initiated by the user or by the platform (610) or both. As partof the synchronization process, the profile information in the PAB 1(636) may be used to create and package a data file to provide to theXDF sync server (612). In FIG. 8, the process of packaging the data fileis indicated to the user via the pop-up window (802). Once the packagingis complete, the data file is provided to the platform (610) to continuethe synchronization process so that the profile information in the PAB 1(636) of the enhanced client 1 (630) may be provided to the PAB 1 (616a) of the platform (610), as discussed above.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary screen (900) of the client (650) toconfigure the client (650) to allow communication with the LDAP server 1(614 a) that supports the user. In one embodiment, the screen (900) isdynamically generated for the user after log in to the platform (610).Before configuration of the clients (650 a-n), the LDAP server 1 (614 a)has already been provisioned to the user. The screen (900) includes anautomatic configuration section (902) that allows the user to click on alink (904) to automatically configure the settings related to the LDAPserver 1 (614 a) for the particular client (650) through use of aconfiguration file. In the illustrated embodiment, clicking on the link(904) automatically configures the client (650) for the LDAP server 1(614 a) when the client (650) is the iPhone. In one embodiment, otherlinks may be provided to automatically configure the additional oralternate clients (605 a-n) for the LDAP server 1 (614 a).

The screen (900) also includes a configuration settings section (906).The configuration settings section (906) includes configuration settingsdata to allow communications with the LDAP server 1 (614 a). Theconfiguration settings data is to be manually entered by the user intothe clients (650 a-n) that may not have an associated link toautomatically perform the configuration. In one embodiment, theconfigurations settings data is obtained from the configuration settingssection (906), which includes a server field (908), a port field (910),an SSL field (912), a search base field (914), a scope field (916), anauthentication field (918), a user name field (920), and a passwordfield (922). The server field (908) indicates a DNS name or an IPaddress for a particular server associated with the platform (610). Theport field (910) indicates a port number to which the client (650) willconnect. The SSL field (912) indicates whether SSL will be used. Thesearch base field (914) indicates the search base DN at or below whichentries will be matched against a search operation. The scope field(916) indicates level of subtree of entries that should be consideredwhen processing the search operation. The authentication field (918)indicates whether the access to the LDAP server 1 (614 a) requiresauthentication. The user name field (920) indicates the user nameassigned to the user. The password field (922) indicates the password ofthe user. In one embodiment, the user name and the password may beunique to each user.

In one embodiment, the values provided for the fields of theconfiguration setting section (906) may be different from thosedescribed and illustrated. In one embodiment, the configuration settingsdata and thus the configuration setting section (906) may containadditional or fewer fields. In one embodiment, the set of values in thefields of the configuration setting section (906) may be unique to eachuser.

FIG. 10 illustrates a window (1001) of a screen (1000) of the client(650) to allow the user to manually enter the configuration settingsdata so that the client (650) is configured to communicate with the LDAPserver 1 (614 a). The window (1001) includes a name field (1002), aserver field (1004), a port field (1006), an SSL field (1008), a searchbase field (1010), a scope field (1012), an authentication field (1014),a user name field (1016), and a password field (1018). The name field(1002) indicates the name of the LDAP server 1 (614 a) to which theclient (650) will connect. As shown in FIG. 10, the configurationsettings data have been manually entered into their respective fields ofthe window (1001) by the user. The user may click on a save button(1020) to save the entered configuration settings data. The user mayclick on a cancel button (1022) to exit from the window (1001).

FIG. 11 illustrates a screen (1100) of the client (650). In theillustrated embodiment, the client (650) is a mail application (e.g.,mail.app). In one embodiment, the client (650) is another clientapplication. When a new message button (1102) is clicked on by the user,a new message screen (1200) is displayed by the client (650), as shownin FIG. 12. The new message screen (1200) includes a To: field (1202), aCc: field (1205), and a suggestion window (1207) that extends from theTo: field (1202). In the illustrated embodiment, the user has providedthe partial entry “Joe” in the To: field (1202) to address a message toa desired contact. Based on the partial entry “Joe”, the client (650)provides a first suggestion (1204) of “Joe Britton<brittonj@yahoo-inc.com>” in the To: field (1202) as contact informationpotentially desired by the user. The first suggestion (1204) alsoappears in the suggestion window (1207). The first suggestion (1204) isprovided by the local database of the client (650).

Based on the partial entry of “Joe”, a second suggestion (1208) of “‘JoeDavis (Xobni)’ <joe.davis@metova.com> as profile information potentiallydesired by the user also appears in a second position in the suggestionwindow (1207). The second suggestion (1208) is provided from the LDAPserver 1 (614 a). In this way, the suggestion of contact information asthe user enters data in a field of the client (650) may be supplementedby the LDAP server 1 (614 a) even when, in contrast to the enhancedclient 1 (630), the client (650) does not have a PAB 1.

In the illustrated embodiment, contact information provided by the LDAPserver 1 (614 a) is displayed below contact information provided by thelocal database of the client (650). In one embodiment, the profileinformation provided by the LDAP server 1 (614 a) is sometimes or alwaysdisplayed above contact information provided by the local database ofthe client (650).

In one embodiment, the profile information provided by the LDAP server 1(614 a), when displayed, is marked in any manner (e.g., “Xobni”) toindicate the LDAP server 1 (614 a) as its source. In one embodiment, thecontact information provided by the local database of the client (650),when displayed, is marked in any manner to indicate the local databaseas its source. In one embodiment, the source of contact information andprofile information, when displayed, is not indicated.

FIG. 13 illustrates a new message screen (1300) of the client (650). Thenew message screen (1300) includes a Cc: field (1302). In oneembodiment, the new message screen (1300) is the new message screen(1200) after the selection of a contact desired by the user in the To:field (1202). In the illustrated embodiment, the user has provided thepartial entry “La Donna” in the Cc: field (1302). Based on the partialentry “La Donna”, the local database of the client (650) does notprovide any suggestions as contact information potentially desired bythe user. However, based on the partial entry “La Donna”, the LDAPserver 1 (614 a) provides a suggestion (1304) of “La Donna Higgins(Xobni) <ladonna.higgins@xobni.com>” as profile information potentiallydesired by the user. The suggestion (1304) appears in the Cc: field(1302). Thus, even when the local database of the client (650) fails toprovide suggested contact information, the LDAP server 1 (614 a) maysucceed in providing profile information to the client (650) to displayas a suggestion for the user.

FIG. 14 shows a flow chart (1400) for the client (650) to receiveprofile information from the LDAP server 1 (614 a). In (1402), an LDAPserver is provisioned for each user of a plurality of users. In (1404),profile information is received. In (1406), the profile information isstored in a database associated with the LDAP server. In (1408), via theLDAP server, a suggestion from the profile information is provided inresponse to a partial entry provided by the user to a first clientassociated with the user.

Some embodiments of the enhanced client 1 (630, the enhanced client 2(640), and the clients (650 a-n), and screens thereof, have beendescribed above. In other embodiments, the client (650) may be any otherclient application with functionality for messaging, mail, contacts,calendaring, and/or other utilities.

In one embodiment, the enhanced client 1 (630) has been described ashaving the database (634) and the PAB 1 (636). In one embodiment, theinformation in the database (634) and the PAB 1 (636) are not identical.In one embodiment, the information in the database (634) and the PAB 1(636) overlap with at least some identity. In one embodiment, theinformation in the database (634) and the PAB 1 (636) may be containedin one database with a stored indication as to the source of contactinformation and profile information as the database (634) or the PAB 1(636).

In one embodiment, indications about the source for particular profileinformation in the PAB 1 may be stored in the PAB 1 and associated withthe particular profile information.

In one embodiment, the PAB 1 (636), the PAB 1 (616 a), and the PAB 1(646) contain identical profile information after appropriatesynchronization.

In one embodiment, the enhanced client 1 (630) has been described asproviding the profile information of the PAB 1 (636) to the PAB 1 (616a) via the XDF sync server (612) and, in turn, serving profileinformation via the LDAP server 1 (614 a) to the client (650). In oneembodiment, the profile information from the LDAP server 1 (614 a) maynot come from the enhanced client 1 (630) or the enhanced client 2(640). In one embodiment, the profile information, via the indexingengine (618 a) in the platform (610), may be provided from the webapplication (670), the web application (660), and/or other sources thatare not the enhanced client 1 (630) or the enhanced client 2 (640). Theprofile information may then be provided to the client (650) from thePAB 1 (616 a) via the LDAP server 1 (614 a).

In one embodiment, the LDAP server 1 (614 a) is used to “pull” profileinformation from the LDAP server 1 (614 a) to the client (650), asdiscussed above. In one embodiment, the LDAP server 1 (614 a) may alsobe used to “push” data from the enhanced client 1 (630) and the enhancedclient 2 (640). Rather than communicate with the XDF sync server (612),the enhanced client 1 (630) and the enhanced client 2 (640) communicatewith and provide profile information to the LDAP server 1 (614 a). TheLDAP server (614 a) synchronizes the profile information from theenhanced client 1 (630) and the enhanced client 2 (640) with the profileinformation in the PAB 1 (616 a).

In one embodiment, the clients (650 a-n) support LDAP. In oneembodiment, the clients (650 a-n) may support additional or alternatestandard or open communication protocols other than LDAP. In oneembodiment, another standard or open communication protocol other thanLDAP may be additionally or alternately implemented in the platform(610) to support communications with the clients (650 a-n).

In one embodiment, the LDAP server 1 (614 a) through the LDAP server N(614 c) may be implemented to provide open, standard access to contactinformation in social networks, such as Facebook, Myspace, andLinked-In.

FIG. 15 shows a data processing system, which can be used in variousembodiments. While FIG. 15 illustrates various components of a computersystem, it is not intended to represent any particular architecture ormanner of interconnecting the components. Some embodiments may use othersystems that have fewer or more components than those shown in FIG. 15.

In one embodiment, the user terminal (101) can be implemented as a dataprocessing system, with fewer or more components, as illustrated in FIG.15. When one or more components of the user terminal (101) areimplemented on one or more remote servers, the servers can beimplemented as a data processing system, with fewer or more components,as illustrated in FIG. 15.

In FIG. 15, the data processing system (1501) includes an inter-connect(1502) (e.g., bus and system core logic), which interconnects amicroprocessor(s) (1503) and memory (1508). The microprocessor (1503) iscoupled to cache memory (1504) in the example of FIG. 15.

The inter-connect (1502) interconnects the microprocessor(s) (1503) andthe memory (1508) together and also interconnects them to a displaycontroller, display device (1507), and to peripheral devices such asinput/output (I/O) devices (1505) through an input/output controller(s)(1506).

Typical I/O devices include mice, keyboards, modems, network interfaces,printers, scanners, video cameras and other devices which are well knownin the art. In some embodiments, when the data processing system is aserver system, some of the I/O devices, such as printer, scanner, mice,and/or keyboards, are optional.

The inter-connect (1502) may include one or more buses connected to oneanother through various bridges, controllers and/or adapters. In oneembodiment, the I/O controller (1506) includes a USB (Universal SerialBus) adapter for controlling USB peripherals, and/or an IEEE-1394 busadapter for controlling IEEE-1394 peripherals.

The memory (1508) may include ROM (Read Only Memory), volatile RAM(Random Access Memory), and non-volatile memory, such as hard drive,flash memory, etc.

Volatile RAM is typically implemented as dynamic RAM (DRAM) whichrequires power continually in order to refresh or maintain the data inthe memory. Non-volatile memory is typically a magnetic hard drive, amagnetic optical drive, an optical drive (e.g., a DVD RAM), or othertype of memory system which maintains data even after power is removedfrom the system. The non-volatile memory may also be a random accessmemory.

The non-volatile memory can be a local device coupled directly to therest of the components in the data processing system. A non-volatilememory that is remote from the system, such as a network storage devicecoupled to the data processing system through a network interface suchas a modem or Ethernet interface, can also be used.

In this description, various functions and operations may be describedas being performed by or caused by software code to simplifydescription. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that whatis meant by such expressions is that the functions result from executionof the code/instructions by a processor, such as a microprocessor.Alternatively, or in combination, the functions and operations can beimplemented using special purpose circuitry, with or without softwareinstructions, such as using Application-Specific Integrated Circuit(ASIC) or Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Embodiments can beimplemented using hardwired circuitry without software instructions, orin combination with software instructions. Thus, the techniques arelimited neither to any specific combination of hardware circuitry andsoftware, nor to any particular source for the instructions executed bythe data processing system.

While some embodiments can be implemented in fully functioning computersand computer systems, various embodiments are capable of beingdistributed as a computing product in a variety of forms and are capableof being applied regardless of the particular type of machine orcomputer-readable media used to actually effect the distribution.

At least some aspects disclosed can be embodied, at least in part, insoftware. That is, the techniques may be carried out in a computersystem or other data processing system in response to its processor,such as a microprocessor, executing sequences of instructions containedin a memory, such as ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatile memory, cache or aremote storage device.

Routines executed to implement the embodiments may be implemented aspart of an operating system or a specific application, component,program, object, module or sequence of instructions referred to as“computer programs.” The computer programs typically include one or moreinstructions set at various times in various memory and storage devicesin a computer, and that, when read and executed by one or moreprocessors in a computer, cause the computer to perform operationsnecessary to execute elements involving the various aspects.

A machine readable medium can be used to store software and data whichwhen executed by a data processing system causes the system to performvarious methods. The executable software and data may be stored invarious places including for example ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatilememory and/or cache. Portions of this software and/or data may be storedin any one of these storage devices. Further, the data and instructionscan be obtained from centralized servers or peer to peer networks.Different portions of the data and instructions can be obtained fromdifferent centralized servers and/or peer to peer networks at differenttimes and in different communication sessions or in a same communicationsession. The data and instructions can be obtained in entirety prior tothe execution of the applications. Alternatively, portions of the dataand instructions can be obtained dynamically, just in time, when neededfor execution. Thus, it is not required that the data and instructionsbe on a machine readable medium in entirety at a particular instance oftime.

Examples of computer-readable media include but are not limited torecordable and non-recordable type media such as volatile andnon-volatile memory devices, read only memory (ROM), random accessmemory (RAM), flash memory devices, floppy and other removable disks,magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media (e.g., Compact DiskRead-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs), etc.), amongothers. The computer-readable media may store the instructions.

The instructions may also be embodied in digital and analogcommunication links for electrical, optical, acoustical or other formsof propagated signals, such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digitalsignals, etc. However, propagated signals, such as carrier waves,infrared signals, digital signals, etc. are not tangible machinereadable medium and are not configured to store instructions.

In general, a tangible machine readable medium includes any apparatusthat provides (i.e., stores and/or transmits) information in a formaccessible by a machine (e.g., a computer, network device, personaldigital assistant, manufacturing tool, any device with a set of one ormore processors, etc.).

In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in combinationwith software instructions to implement the techniques. Thus, thetechniques are neither limited to any specific combination of hardwarecircuitry and software nor to any particular source for the instructionsexecuted by the data processing system.

Although some of the drawings illustrate a number of operations in aparticular order, operations which are not order dependent may bereordered and other operations may be combined or broken out. While somereordering or other groupings are specifically mentioned, others will beapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and so do not present anexhaustive list of alternatives. Moreover, it should be recognized thatthe stages could be implemented in hardware, firmware, software or anycombination thereof.

In the foregoing specification, the disclosure has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evidentthat various modifications may be made thereto without departing fromthe broader spirit and scope as set forth in the following claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method, comprising: storing, by a server, profileinformation in a database, wherein the profile information is stored asa plurality of profiles, each profile for a respective one of aplurality of persons; and providing, by the server, a plurality ofsuggestions from the profile information in response to a partial entryprovided locally by a user in a user interface of a client, eachsuggestion to be displayed at a respective predetermined position in theuser interface based on a source of the respective suggestion, wherein afirst suggestion obtained from a first source is displayed in apredetermined first position of the user interface, and a secondsuggestion obtained from a second source is displayed in a predeterminedsecond position of the user interface.
 22. The method of claim 21,wherein each of the plurality of profiles has a relevancy score, and theproviding the plurality of suggestions comprises selecting thesuggestions based on the relevancy scores of the plurality of profiles.23. The method of claim 21, wherein the first position is a topposition, and the second position is a lower position, wherein the topposition is above the lower position.
 24. The method of claim 21,wherein the partial entry is an entry in an address field of a newmessage being composed by the user.
 25. The method of claim 21, whereinthe server is a first server, and the method further comprisingextracting first information from a web application of a second server,wherein the stored profile information comprises the first information.26. The method of claim 21, further comprising synchronizing firstinformation extracted from a remote source and the profile informationstored in the database to generate synchronized profile information usedto provide at least one of the first suggestion or the secondsuggestion.
 27. The method of claim 21, wherein the first source is theclient and the second source is another client.
 28. The method of claim21, wherein the first source is the server and the second source is theclient.
 29. The method of claim 21, wherein the profile information isobtained from messages sent to or from the user.
 30. The method of claim21, wherein each of the plurality of profiles comprises informationobtained from a social network server.
 31. The method of claim 21,wherein at least one of the first suggestion or the second suggestion ismarked with a visual indicator when displayed for viewing by the user toindicate the source of the respective suggestion.
 32. The method ofclaim 21, wherein the client is a first client, the method furthercomprising obtaining first information from a second client associatedwith the user, wherein the profile information stored in the databasecomprises the first information.
 33. The method of claim 21, wherein theplurality of profiles includes a profile for the user.
 34. A system,comprising: at least one processor; and memory storing instructionsconfigured to instruct the at least one processor to: store profileinformation in a database, wherein the profile information is stored asa plurality of profiles; and provide a plurality of suggestions from theprofile information in response to a partial entry provided by a user ina user interface of a client, each suggestion to be displayed at arespective predetermined position in the user interface based on asource of the respective suggestion, wherein a first suggestion obtainedfrom a first source is displayed in a predetermined first position ofthe user interface, and a second suggestion obtained from a secondsource is displayed in a predetermined second position of the userinterface.
 35. The system of claim 34, wherein the first source is theclient and the second source is the server.
 36. The system of claim 34,wherein each of the plurality of profiles has a relevancy score, and theproviding the plurality of suggestions comprises selecting thesuggestions based on the relevancy scores of the plurality of profiles.37. The system of claim 34, wherein the first suggestion is marked witha visual indicator when displayed for viewing by the user on the userinterface of the client to indicate the source of the respectivesuggestion.
 38. A non-transitory machine readable storage media storinga set of instructions, the instructions when executed causing at leastone processor to: store profile information in a database, wherein theprofile information is stored as a plurality of profiles; and provide asuggestion from the profile information in response to a partial entryprovided by a user in a user interface of a client, the suggestion to bedisplayed at a predetermined position in the user interface based on asource of the suggestion.
 39. The non-transitory machine readablestorage media of claim 38, wherein the stored profile information isobtained from messages sent to or from the user.
 40. The non-transitorymachine readable storage media of claim 38, wherein the instructionswhen executed further cause the at least one processor to synchronizefirst information extracted from a remote source and the profileinformation stored in the database to generate synchronized profileinformation used to provide the suggestion.